Ended in Tragedy
by Shadow Kat-Lyn
Summary: [Oneshot]Naraku is defeated and the Jewel is whole. Kagome decides that it's time for her to leave, since the only person she will ever love doesn't seem to return her feelings. A tragic parting between lovers. 2 alternate endings posted!
1. Ended in Tragedy

"Time to die, Naraku!" And with one final swing of Tetsusaiga, Naraku disintegrated. With no Jewel Shards left, his body was incredibly weakened, weakened enough for Inu Yasha to be able to defeat him. It was a long, hard battle, with many casualties on both sides. Naraku had summoned a small army of weak demons to defend himself, not to mention Kagura and Kanna. For the good side, it was Inu Yasha, Kagome, Mirouku, Sango, Shippou, Kirara, Kouga, and Myouga. Kouga couldn't risk any more of his pack's lives, so he came alone to help. Sesshoumaru, who was never involved directly with Naraku's and his brother's fight, didn't see Naraku as enough of a threat to his lands, so he didn't participate.

Sango had a broken thigh, a dislocated shoulder, and a broken wrist at the end of the fight. She had taken out a good many of the weak demons with the help of Kouga, who had a bad cut on his head and across his back, and Kirara, who was now missing a good chunk of fur and suffered from a broken back paw and a broken tail.

Mirouku fought against Kagura and Kanna, aided by Kagome, and early on Inu Yasha. He now had a much larger whole in his hand, and a few busted ribs, while Kagome wasn't the focus of the attacks, and only suffered minor scraps and bruises. Later on, near the end of the battle, Naraku managed to wound Kagome; a nasty scar over her right eye would always reside on her face, but during the fight it bled from her hairline, across her forehead and her eye, and ended near the bottom of her right ear.

The reason Naraku went after Kagome in the first place was because she somehow managed to purify the Shards he had, and significantly reduced his power. After a few directions from said miko, Inu Yasha managed to slice the Shards out of the evil human-turned-half-demon, resulting in his destruction.

Inu Yasha himself suffered the least, mainly thanks to his demonic abilities. Kirara would always have a slight limp, Sango could never gain all of the precision and accuracy with her Hiraikotsu from before again, Mirouku would always be slightly short of breath, and Kagome's eye would always have a scar. Because Shippou and Kouga had the same abilities as Inu Yasha, although Kouga had a very hard time moving for the longest after the battle, they didn't retain any lasting wounds.

---

"Inu Yasha," Kagome said softly, looking over at the confusing half-demon. They were sitting alone in Keade's hut. It was a month after everyone's wounds had healed fully, and Kagome decided it was time for her to go home, permanently. Even though Kagome loved Inu Yasha, and made obvious attempts to tell him, he seemed indifferent to her feelings. They were so comfortable around each other, it would be strange when she stopped traveling through the well, stopped skipping school to fight demons, and strangest of all when she couldn't see the feudal era anymore. Sure, she grew up in the future, and couldn't live without her precious technology, like most teenagers, but she'd miss everything about the time, from the clear air to the unsoiled landscapes, to the people closest to her. "The Jewel's yours."

They had finished the Jewel thanks to the defeat of Naraku, and Kagome had kept it since then, waiting on the perfect moment to fulfill her promise to Inu Yasha and give him the Jewel. Now, with Sango and Mirouku visiting her old village, and Keade, Shippou, and Myouga out in the village, now seemed like the best it could get. But she still couldn't bring herself to say goodbye. Privately, right before Sango and Mirouku headed off, she had told them she might not be there if they returned. She had broken the news to Shippou and Keade the night before, while Inu Yasha was off in the forest. Now the only one to say goodbye to was sitting right in front of her, and she couldn't do it.

"What?" He looked at her strangely. He didn't expect this from her, least of all at the moment. Inu Yasha had lately taken off to the forest, to sort out his feelings. Even he had picked up at the not-so-subtle hints she had been dropping for the last year that she liked him, but he couldn't be sure. He never said a word to the monk, in case his suspicions were false. It was because he thought she could never love him that prevented him from showing his feelings toward the young miko girl.

"It's yours. I said I would give it to you when we completed it, and I've had it for this long after it was." She spoke softly, the Jewel in her outstretched palm. She couldn't look him in the eyes, know that if she did, she could never stay away.

"No, you keep it." He paused, thinking. "So you can visit." Several minutes passed by before Kagome spoke. Her eyes had already glassed over from tears, but hearing this, they spilled down her faced, unchecked.

"Inu Yasha...I can't keep coming back here. Not if you...Because I had a life other than this." She stood, eyes closed so she wouldn't look at him. "If no one's here to keep me, then I have to find someone else." She spoke the last unintentionally, because it was supposed to have stayed in her head. It devastate Inu Yasha. He stood now, worry in his eyes.

"Kagome..." He started, but there was nothing left to say. In his eyes, she didn't love him, but she would miss him when she left. She had already made up her mind, and Kagome's mind wasn't something he thought he could change.

"I...I'm sorry." Was the last he heard from her as she turned and ran from the hut. Inu Yasha watched her go, but at the same time realized that he didn't care anymore. He bolted after her, but found it hard to keep up with the girl, who had a considerable lead on him. He had to stop her from leaving; he wouldn't be able to survive without her.

It was the last straw. She would never be able to look at him again. He didn't love her, and he never would. That's why he wasn't going to stop her. _'Why didn't he take the stupid Jewel then?'_ Kagome questioned herself as she ran the familiar path to the well. She shook her head slightly, causing more tears to fall. _'No! He still loves Kikyou, and now they can be together.'_ She thought dejectedly as she approached the clearing. She could see the well now, only a few more feet...

"Kagome!" Inu Yasha yelled from somewhere behind her. He could see that she was almost at the well, and now he had to stop her. "Wait!" He couldn't let her slip away like Kikyou had.

She ignored him. She made it to the well, and stood on the edge, but turned back toward him, pausing only a moment. He landed in the clearing, a needy look in his eyes. He was saying something, but she couldn't hear it. His hand was outstretched, but everything was moving in slow motion to her. She reached out for him with her hand, and the Jewel flew off without her noticing. She tried to jump away from the well, but her foot caught on the inside lip of the well. Whether she was pulled backwards by gravity or by the well itself, she'd never know, but she was pulled inside the dusty old well just as Inu Yasha reached it. He tried to grab her hand, but he was just a few seconds too slow.

"I love you!"

---

Later on, after she had time to sort through all of her memories, Kagome realized what he had yelled out, hand outstretched, reaching for her. It was much later when she realized that she had said "I love you, too!" as she fell. She hoped he had heard her.

Every morning, Kagome could be seen walking silently into the old, dusty well house, and every evening she would return to her house, for a nice meal, a hot bath, and then another sleepless night full of haunting dreams of what she had and what she could have had. She never knew what happened to him, or Shippou, Keade, Mirouku, Sango, Kouga, Sesshoumaru, Kohaku, Rin or anyone else she had met there.

The only clue she had was a small inscription she had found in the well. Inside, near the bottom, scratched into the stone, was something that gave her hope. It was a date, and not just any date. It looked like it had been there for centuries, but the date had still yet to come. Kagome believed it was Inu Yasha trying to tell her when they'd meet again, for the date was only about three weeks after she had came back.

Now, it was the morning of the date engraved into the well, and, for the first time in weeks, she stood outside. She stood in front of the first place they had met, and where she had unsealed him. If she hadn't of fell into the well and unsealed Inu Yasha from the spell, he would still have been there all along, waiting on her. It was destiny that made her go into the well house that morning all those years ago, not just her love of Buyo.

She stood out there all day, until the sun started setting. She never gave up hope in that he'd come, against all odds, just to see her again. She had already stopped speaking to anyone, no matter what they said, so no one in her family knew about the date. By the time the sun was halfway behind the horizon, she finally gave up hope.

"He...he's not coming." She said quietly to the tree. "It wasn't for me, it was for someone else." She said dejectedly. She turned and started going toward the backdoor of her house. When she reached the door she paused, looking back toward the tree. No one could be seen from where she stood, so she turned and went inside.


	2. Begun in Hope

This is the first AU ending to this story. It is really just helping me get over a major writer's block. It picks up right where the story left off in the previous chapter

* * *

Later on that night, as Kagome's mom was washing the dishes from their meal, the phone rang. Drying her hands, she quickly answered the phone.

"Hello?" She asked into the receiver. A few guys' voices could be heard in the background as a girl spoke.

"Yes, is this the Higurashi residence?" The girl asked.

"Yes. Who are you looking for?"

"Kagome Higurashi. We're friends from school, and we want to meet with her tomorrow." Kagome's mother thought for a moment.

"She hasn't been feeling well lately, but if you could stop by the house tomorrow sometime, I'm sure that she'd talk to you."

"That will be excellent! Is it all right if we stop by around noon tomorrow then?"

"Perfect. I'll make sure she knows about it."

"Thanks." The girl said before hanging up. Kagome's mother replaced the receiver on the base, walked up the stairs, and knocked lightly on her daughter's bedroom door.

"Kagome, some friends from school are going to stop by the house tomorrow at noon. I want you to at least meet them, even if you don't talk to them." After several moments, Kagome opened her door. She nodded to her mother before shutting it and going back to her desk, where she was writing a letter.

---

Even though she agreed to meet her friends, Kagome was very reluctant to actually meet them. She was very depressed, and she looked horrible. It was one reason her mother wanted her to meet her friends so badly; she hoped they would cheer up her daughter, even if it was just a tiny bit. So, at noon, her mother made her come outside to wait on her friends. Kagome sat on the small stone bench underneath the Sacred Tree, and, while she waited, she stared blankly at the branches above her head. There were blossoms on the tree again, and they looked close to blooming. Kagome's mother was inside, preparing their noon meal, but she managed to look out the kitchen window at her daughter every now and then.

Kagome was thinking about whether or not she should go inside when she heard voices. There were several of them, and they seemed familiar to her. They weren't the voices of the friends she was expecting to show up. There were at least three guy voices, and a few girls. Kagome looked over to where the voices were coming from, the stairs leading up to the shrine. She stood waiting in the shade of the Sacred Tree. After a minute, the voices started hushing each other, and Kagome guessed they were near the top. Not a few moments later, a teenaged girl could be seen at the top of the stairs. As soon as she reached the top, she turned and looked back down the stairs.

"Hurry up! We're already late as it is." She said in a very familiar voice. After a few more seconds, four guys stood at the top of the stairs, one bent over breathing hard. After another few seconds another girl showed up at the top.

"Sorry. My clocks are always slower than yours." She said, a little out of breath. The first girl smiled at them.

"It's all right, Rin. Try to leave earlier next time." It seemed as if none of them noticed Kagome, who was not that far from them. She certainly didn't hear them. Her eyes were locked onto the tallest boy. He had long black hair pulled back at his neck, strange violet eyes, and was wearing loose black pants, a loose red T-shirt, and a pair of black and silver combat boots. His longer-than-normal fingernails were painted black, and he had several silver earrings in each ear. Around his neck hung a golden chain, with an old, tarnished heart-shaped locket on it.

He looked exactly like Inu Yasha on his human night. He too looked like he wasn't paying attention to his friends. He was looking directly at Kagome, a slight smile on his face.

---

Later on, Kagome couldn't figure out how she knew. It was in those few seconds that she realized it was Inu Yasha. His friends, who she later found out where Sango, Mirouku, Shippou, Kohaku, and Rin, noticed where he was looking, and saw Kagome. They had a tearful reunion, and Kagome started talking again. After all the reintroductions were finished, they sat outside under the Sacred Tree, telling Kagome how they survived the five-hundred year difference.

"After I realized what had happened, I stopped speaking for a few weeks." Inu Yasha started.

"Four months, actually." Shippou added.

"We had to find the Jewel, and then we had to convince Inu Yasha to use it."

"When I did, Midoriko's spirit was released from the Jewel, and she spoke to us."

"She told us that when you purified the Jewel, you actually just strengthened her spirit, so she could overpower the evil in the Jewel."

"She said that because of your power, she could use it to help us."

"She said that she would make it so we could all see you again!" All of these lines were spoken very fast and from different people, but Kagome managed to understand what was going on.

"She also gave me the power to change my appearance, so I could fit in with the humans."

"We've enrolled in your school next year, and we're all in the same grade."

"Inu Yasha's the best out of us at math, go figure."

"We have an apartment a few blocks away, but we haven't stayed in it lately, that's why we were late."

"Inu Yasha forgot what day he wrote on the well."

"Did not!"

"We just got back from America, where we've been staying because Dad needed our help with the company." Rin said.

"Who's your dad?"

"I call Sesshoumaru my dad, because he did raise me. And, that's what it says on my birth certificate." She added the last with a giggle.

"He's the owner of this big company that organizes trade between America and Japan. Anytime we need something, we go to him, because he has the money to make it happen."

"Why were you in America?"

"A small company run by demons over there were attacking the headquarters set up over there, so we had to go protect it for a while."

"What happened to everyone else? Keade, Kouga, Myouga, Shiori, Royukan, Jinenji?"

"Keade was included in the wishes."

"She runs the day care you went to when you were little."

"Kouga's the owner of that big record company out of Sapporo."

"Myouga died about a century ago."

"Shiori has become some big government official."

"We never heard what happened to Royukan."

"Jinenji found a wife and had five children, the oldest he named Kagome, and the second oldest Inu Yasha. They're the founders of a hidden corporation that negotiates peace treaties between demons."

"Inu Yasha, did you mean to show up three weeks after I came back?" Kagome asked suddenly, thinking of the date. He looked shocked.

"No! I meant to come back on the day you got back. You mean that you've been here three weeks already?" The other's were almost as shocked as him.

"Are you ever going to get a date right?" Shippou asked in amazement.

"Hey! I was depressed and I didn't care too much about anything anymore, so I didn't both keeping up with the dates back then." Inu Yasha said in his own defense. Kagome smiled at him.

"It's all right. We're all together, and that's all that matters." She said lightly.

"Kagome! Lunch's is done!" Souta said, running out the back door. He looked around before spotting the group. He ran up, a little out of breath. "Momma said that your friends can come in and eat with us too, if they want."

"What about it guys? Are you gonna stay?" She asked them, and Souta looked at her in shock, because he hadn't heard her talk in three weeks. The gang gave their various 'yes' replies, and they all stood up and followed Kagome inside her house.

**End AU 1**  
So, there's the alternate ending to _Ended in Tragedy._ I hope you all enjoy. Actually, there's another ending that expands on this chapter. I'm not happy with the current ending, so I'll have to think something up. Actually, I could continue the other ending as a story in it's own right, but I don't know if I will as of now or not.

Shadow Kat


	3. Lived in Faith

**Author's Note:** This picks up right where the first 'chapter' ended. It begins almost like the second 'chapter'.

* * *

Later on that night, as Kagome's mom was washing the dishes from their meal, the phone rang. Drying her hands, she quickly answered the phone. 

"Hello?" She asked into the receiver. A few guys voices could be heard in the background as a girl spoke.

"Yes, is this the Higurashi residence?" The girl asked.

"Yes. Who are you looking for?"

"Kagome Higurashi. We're friends from school, and we want to meet with her tomorrow." Kagome's mother thought for a moment.

"She hasn't been feeling well lately, but if you could stop by the house tomorrow sometime, I'm sure that she'd talk to you."

"That will be excellent! Is it alright if we stop by around noon tomorrow then?"

"Perfect. I'll make sure she knows about it."

"Thanks." The girl said before hanging up. Kagome's mother replaced the receiver on the base, walked up the stairs, and knocked lightly on her daughter's bedroom door.

"Kagome, some friends from school are going to stop by the house tomorrow at noon. I want you to at least meet them, even if you don't talk to them." After several moments, Kagome opened her door. She nodded to her mother before shutting it and going back to her desk, where she was writing a letter.

---

Even though she agreed to meet her friends, Kagome was very reluctant to actually meet them. She was very depressed, and she looked horrible. It was one reason her mother wanted her to meet her friends so badly; she hoped they would cheer up her daughter, even if it was just a tiny bit. So, at noon, her mother made her come outside to wait on her friends. Kagome sat on the small stone bench underneath the Sacred Tree, and, while she waited, she stared blankly at the branches above her head. There were blossoms on the tree again, and they looked close to blooming. Kagome's mother was inside, preparing their noon meal, but she managed to look out the kitchen window at her daughter every now and then.

Kagome was thinking about whether or not she should go inside when she heard voices. There were several of them, and they seemed familiar to her. They weren't the voices of the friends she was expecting to show up. There were at least three guy voices, and a few girl's. Kagome looked over to where the voices were coming from, the stairs leading up to the shrine. She stood waiting in the shade of the Sacred Tree. After a minute, the voices started hushing each other, and Kagome guessed they were near the top. Not a few moments later, a teenaged girl could be seen at the top of the stairs. As soon as she reached the top, she turned and looked back down the stairs.

"Hurry up! We're already late as it is." She said in a very familiar voice. After a few more seconds, four guys stood at the top of the stairs, one bent over breathing hard. After another few seconds another girl showed up at the top.

"Sorry. My clocks are always slower than yours." She said, a little out of breath. The first girl smiled at them.

"It's alright, Rin. Try to leave earlier next time." It seemed as if none of them noticed Kagome, who was not that far from them. She certainly didn't hear them, her eyes were locked onto the tallest boy. He had long black hair pulled back at his neck, strange violet eyes, and was wearing loose black pants, a loose red t-shirt, and a pair of black and silver combat boots. His longer-than-normal fingernails were painted black, and he had several silver earrings in each ear. Around his neck hung a golden chain, with an old, tarnished heart-shaped locket on it.

He looked exactly like Inu Yasha on his human night. He too looked like he wasn't paying attention to his friends. He was looking directly at Kagome, a slight smile on his face.

---

Later on, Kagome couldn't figure out how she knew. It was in those few seconds that she realized it was Inu Yasha. His friends, who she later found out where Sango, Mirouku, Shippou, Kohaku, and Rin, noticed where he was looking, and saw Kagome. They had a tearful reunion, and Kagome started talking again. After all the reintroductions were finished, they sat outside under the Sacred Tree, telling Kagome how they survived the five-hundred year difference.

"After I realized what had happened, I stopped speaking for a few weeks." Inu Yasha started.

"Four months, actually." Shippou added.

"We had to find the Jewel, and then we had to convince Inu Yasha to use it."

"When I did, Midoriko's spirit was released from the Jewel, and she spoke to us."

"She told us that when you purified the Jewel, you actually just strengthened her spirit, so she could overpower the evil in the Jewel."

"She said that because of your power, she could use it to help us."

"She said that she would make it so we could all see you again!" All of these lines were spoken very fast and from different people, but Kagome managed to understand what was going on.

"She also gave me the power to change my appearance, so I could fit in with the humans."

"We've enrolled in your school next year, and we're all in the same grade."

"Inu Yasha's the best out of us at math, go figure."

"We have an apartment a few blocks away, but we haven't stayed in it lately, that's why we were late."

"Inu Yasha forgot what day he wrote on the well."

"Did not!"

"We just got back from America, where we've been staying because Dad needed our help with the company." Rin said.

"Who's your dad?"

"I call Sesshoumaru my dad, because he did raise me. And, that's what it says on my birth certificate." She added the last with a giggle.

"He's the owner of this big company that organizes trade between America and Japan. Anytime we need something, we go to him, because he has the money to make it happen."

"Why were you in America?"

"A small company run by demons over there were attacking the headquarters set up over there, so we had to go protect it for a while."

"What happened to everyone else? Keade, Kouga, Myouga, Shiori, Royukan, Jinenji?"

"Keade was included in the wishes."

"She runs the day care you went to when you were little."

"Kouga's the owner of that big record company out of Sapporo."

"Myouga died about a century ago."

"Shiori has become some big government official."

"We never heard what happened to Royukan."

"Jinenji found a wife and had five children, the oldest he named Kagome, and the second oldest Inu Yasha. They're the founders of a hidden corporation that negotiates peace treaties between demons." Sango then got a look on her face of realizing something important that she forgot.

"Inu Yasha, the Jewel! What Midoriko said!" She said suddenly, surprising everyone. Inu Yasha just smirked.

"Don't worry. I didn't forget." He pulled the Jewel out of one of his pants pockets. "Midoriko told us that when we see you again, you could make a wish, and that you'd know what it was."

"She said to go ahead and make it; she's been gathering her powers all these years."

"But, she said that it would also take a lot of your miko powers, and that it would change you, but she never said how." Kagome reached out to Inu Yasha's outstretched hand and almost took the Jewel, but stopped.

"Guys, what if I altered time a bit?" She asked them seriously. She understood what wish to make, but wanted to know if they wanted her to make it. "What if the well let me pass through once more?" They thought for a moment.

"A lot would have changed." Mirouku said, after a minute of thinking. "Is that what Midoriko said your wish would be? To let you go through the well again?" Kagome nodded a bit.

"I think that's what she thought I'd wish for."

"Then what about the part about changing you?" Kagome thought for a moment.

"I read in an old mythology book once that spiritual energy, in whatever form, pure or demonic, is connected to the body. So, if Midoriko used enough of my miko powers, it could hurt me, maybe enough to almost cause me to die. But if she changed me, somehow, it wouldn't hurt me, and I'd be fine." Kagome reasoned.

"If you're sure, then I won't mind if our memories are changed to have you in them." The others agreed. Inu Yasha withdrew his hand a bit.

"If you don't want to do this, you don't have to." He said quietly. "I don't want to loose you again." Kagome smiled at him.

"You won't loose me." She said back as she reached out for the Jewel. She took it from Inu Yasha's hands and held it in her own for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. Then, the Jewel, which had been a dull lavender color, glowed and regained the sheer light pink/purple color that it had when Kagome saw it last. A foot-tall see-through person appeared in the middle of the group.  
"Midoriko!"

"Kagome, listen, you must go through the well, now. It's the only way I can connect with the past. You understood the warnings, I suppose." Kagome nodded as she stood. "I can only keep the well open for a few more minutes; you must hurry." She faded out as Kagome gave a quick wave to her friends as she ran towards the well, which wasn't that far away, luckily. The others ran after her as well, and stood back as she stood on the edge of the well, looking down into it. At the bottom it was glowing with the same light pink/purple as the Jewel, and Kagome guessed that it was Midoriko's power. She took a deep breath and jumped into the well.

---

"Who are you?" Shippou asked the small see-through person standing in the middle of the group. Sango and Mirouku had just found the Jewel again, and gave it to Inu Yasha when it suddenly glowed and the two-foot person appeared before them.

"I'm Midoriko, or I used to be when I was alive. My soul has been trapped inside the Jewel, along with the demon's that I was trying to defeat. Thanks to Kagome, I have been able to purify the demon's soul, and now it cannot be tainted again." The voice coming from the little person was unique, and it didn't sound like it came from her mouth. The taller members of the gang, Sango, Mirouku, and Inu Yasha, bent down to the figure's level.

"The reason why I appearing to you now is to use the rest of my powers, so that demons cannot sense the Jewel anymore." The figure looked around at the group then turned to face Shippou.

"Shippou, what you want the most is your family back, correct?" She asked him in a kind manner. He nodded after a moment. She smiled at him. "You have a family, just not who you think. Kagome has acted like your mother the entire time she has known you, and to a certain degree, Inu Yasha has acted like a father to you." She turned to Sango.

"Sango, you would like your brother returned to you and to raise children with your love, correct?" Midoriko asked Sango, who nodded. The little figure then turned to the monk.

"Mirouku, you would like to settle down with your love, and be able to raise a family in peace, and always be there for your children unlike your father was to you, correct?" Mirouku nodded. Midoriko then slowly turned to Inu Yasha.

"Inu Yasha, you... You are the most conflicted. You want power greater than your father's, but you already have that. You want your brother to respect you, and he already does. You cannot stand to live, yet you want to be able to live through the five-hundred year gap between this time and the time of your soul-mate's. You want her back, but you don't want her back." She paused. "I do not know what else to say."

"I want Kagome back." He said quietly. "I don't care about the rest, I just want to be able to see her again." His voice became softer. He still couldn't quite figure out his emotions, since he was so used to not using them.

"You want Kagome to be with you, yet you do not want her here. Please, Inu Yasha, explain to me."

"I don't want her here if she doesn't want to be here." His voice was even quieter, but Midoriko heard every word. She paused, thinking for a moment.

"I see. Inu Yasha, she wants to be back here, and she will make a wish that will allow her to be. I will gather the rest of my powers so she can, but it will take a great deal of her miko powers as well, but I will be prepared. It will change her, but I doubt she will disagree. Inu Yasha, when you hand me the Jewel, you will all get what you desire, and history will not be changed." She said before she held out her hands, waiting on the Jewel. Inu Yasha looked at everyone else. They nodded. Inu Yasha tentatively placed the Jewel in Midoriko's hands. As soon as the Jewel touched her palms, she was engulfed in a white light. The gang was stunned by this sudden light, and they all moved back a few feet as they shielded their eyes.

After a few moments, the light lessened, and Inu Yasha dared to look a bit. The light was too bright to see into clearly, but he could see the shape of someone around his height standing where Midoriko had stood not a minute earlier. The light intensified again, and Inu Yasha had to look away. At last, it faded away, a little bit at a time, and the outline of a human could be seen.

"Kagome!" It was her standing in front of him, giving off a slight purple glow as the white light faded. She wasn't the Kagome he had last seen, though. Instead of her pure black hair, the bottom half had lightened into the silver of his own hair. Her nails, which she had kept short, had grown as long and as sharp as his own claws, although her's looked more delicate. Her body had shaped up, trading fat for muscle, but she remained as small as she was. Her ears now had points, much like Shippou's, and all four of her canine teeth had elongated a little and sharpened into fangs. Her eyes, which where partly open, had changed from pure blue to having a swirl of gold around the pupil. The light and glow faded after a moment, and several more shocked cries of her name came from her friends as they looked back to the spot where Midoriko had appeared.

Inu Yasha rushed forward as the last of the light faded, because Kagome seemed to be in a trance and couldn't hold her own weight up. He pulled her close to him in a warm embrace.

"Kagome..." He could only say her name as he felt her move against him, pulling away.

"Inu...Yasha?"

---

Kagome had been returned to Inu Yasha, thanks to her will, his dedication, and their love. Kohaku was found wandering outside the village a few days later, fully healed and having all his memories except for what he had done while being controlled by Naraku. It was a wonderful reunion for him and his sister, and everyone was happy. The gang split for a while, Inu Yasha, Kagome, and Shippou staying in Keade's village, Sango and Kohaku visiting their old village, and Mirouku, going off on his own to properly celebrate the removal of his families curse with his mentor, Mushin.

"Inu Yasha, what are we going to do now?" Kagome asked him one day while Shippou and Keade were out in the village. He looked at her and shrugged a bit before looking at the ceiling while he spoke.

"I don't know. I never thought when we first started this journey together we'd ever make it through the way we did. Finding those shards has been such an important part of our lives and such a never-ending quest that I never really thought about the possibility that we would finish." He said quietly to her. She thought for a few moments before standing up.

"Well then, let's find out what our destiny is." She said as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail on top of her head like Sango did. She held out a hand to him. "I didn't come back to you just to sit around in this tiny town for the rest of my life. You've gotten me addicted to the fast-paced deadly world of demons, and I like it." He smirked a bit before taking her hand and standing up next to her.

"Let's go then. Together."

**End AU 2  
**And that's it. Sorry it's taken so long. This is what I had in mind when I put this in the romance section, because that ending is about as sappy as I can get. This is the end of the fic. It really shouldn't have gone more than the first chapter, but I couldn't leave Kagome like that.  
This is probably my last post. I don't know if I'll ever write anymore fan fictions for ffdotnet. The authoress who wrote the books my newest fiction is set in doesn't want fan created works posted. The Vampire Chronicles are just too good _not_ to write about. So, farewell!

Shadow Kat


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